


If You Were Here

by Vashti (tvashti)



Series: Mirror [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Family, Family Secrets, Fantasizing, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Loneliness, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Only Child Problems, Original Character-centric, Pre-Iron Man 1, Smart Kid Problems, Tony is definitely background, Too Smart For Your Own Good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 04:52:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15112169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tvashti/pseuds/Vashti
Summary: Dinah fantasizes about her father.  She does it when she’s frustrated with her mother.  She does it when she’s lonely, and stuck in her head.  She does it after she’s gotten into a fight and she’s in trouble with the school and her mom.If her father were here…





	If You Were Here

**Author's Note:**

> It's not a lot, but I apologize for my Spanish now.

**9 - If You Were Here**

She dreams of her father. Not in her sleep where she can’t control it, but during the day when she’s frustrated or lonely or in trouble.

So daydreams, then.

No, fantasies.

These are things that come to her waking mind. These are things her waking mind thoughtfully creates.

Dinah fantasizes about her father. She does it when she’s frustrated with her mother. She does it when she’s lonely, and stuck in her head. She does it after she’s gotten into a fight and she’s in trouble with the school and her mom.

If her father were here…

If her father were here, her Mama wouldn’t have to be so stressed with work, and _abuela_ and _abuelito_ , the antics of _Titi_ Yvee and _Tio_ Jorge, and the guys in the neighborhood always wanting to talk to her, and _her_ , and everything.

If her father were here, her grandparents wouldn’t be so much the way they are, and her twin aunt and uncle would keep their opinions to themselves. If her father were here, the guys in the neighborhood wouldn’t talk to her Mama so much. If her father were here, _she_ could talk to _him_ sometimes and give her Mama a break from all the things Dinah stores up all day to talk/ask/tell her about. If her father were here, they could share this between them.

If her father were here, he could talk her Mama down from yelling at Dinah after the fights she gets into with the older girls in her class at school. (It never occurs to her that her parents might do the “united front” thing and stand in agreement _against_ her.) Maybe he could make it so her hide doesn’t get so tan. Maybe, if her father were here, her Mama wouldn’t be so angry for days and days and days, until it’s all Dinah can do to wonder if everyone would be happier if she ran away.

After all, her father ran away. Her Mama said he saw her in the hospital (she’s not always sure she believes this), but he never came back. Somehow even though she was so small her _abuelito_ likes to joke she could fit in the palms of his hands, her father knew. He knew that she was trouble. He knew she wasn’t worth sticking around for.

Her fights at school tend to come in strings of days.

Until one day her Mama tells her, if it’s too much for you, _mi preciosa_ …if you need a break…you tell me, and I will call the school and let them know that you are not coming in today.

She only gets one of these a quarter. Four for the whole year. But the promise of peace—of a break from being the talking seal that won’t perform—is so strong, her fights drop off dramatically. Yes, she can take off a day without explanation, but she only gets four. They are precious. They’re worth putting up with her stupid classmates for.

And they are stupid. Even a year ahead of where she should be for her age, these girls and boys are still…lacking. If her father were here, she could tell him about it. Make the rude jokes that her Mama frowns at.

She sees Tony Stark on the television one late evening, watching the news with her aunt and uncle while her Mama is at work and her grandparents are outside socializing late into the warm, early Summer evening. He is rude. He says things on TV that shouldn’t be said in the presence of little girls. Things that little girls like herself shouldn’t understand, but she does. She always has. Her aunt and uncle hardly notice. They’re not really paying her any attention. Except for Tio Jorge, who says to Titi Yvee “Didn’t Angelina go to MIT with him?”

“I think she said they were friends.”

“If she had famous rich friends in school, then why doesn’t she ever talk about him?”

“Because she got knocked up and didn’t finish . Duh.”

Titi Yvee hits Tio Jorge, jerking her chin in Dinah’s direction. “Oh, hey, sorry, _mamita_. You know I didn’t mean it.”

But Dinah’s not really paying him any attention. Brilliant, handsome, funny, rude Tony Stark went to _MIT_ with her mother. They knew each other. Probably he knew her father. He’s smart like them. Or she’s smart like him. They were smart together.

Whatever.

Dinah fantasizes that Tony Stark is her father.

 

Fin[ite]

**Author's Note:**

> Abuela - Grandmother (used here more as Grandma, which is probably better written Abuelita)  
> Abuelito - Grandpa  
> Tia/Titi - Aunt/Aunti  
> Tio - Uncle  
> My Preciosa - My precious (term of endearment)  
> Mamita - Little Mother (term of endearment)


End file.
